Michael Byrne

Mick Byrne family roots the GAA run deep, his great grandfather having been the goalkeeper on the very first Castlebar Mitchels team in the 1880s. Byrne grew up in Castlebar and he talks fondly not only about the informal games he played in The Mall in the town, but about watching the Mayo team train in McHale Park and listening to Michael O’Hehir match commentaries on the radio. The importance of football in the local life was heightened by the absence of alternative social opportunities. The role of the town leagues is discussed: it organisations, the teams, the jerseys, the finals in McHale Park and parade before them. Byrne’s attended the football nursery of St. Jarlath’s, Tuam, for secondary school and he discusses the rivalries between different colleges in the early 1970s, the quality of players involved and the games played. It was also in Jarlath’s where he became involved in refereeing and a number of his memorable experiences are recounted.Throughout his life, Byrne has been an avid supporter of Mayo teams and he charts his experiences of following Mayo teams through the decades. From 1981 to 1997, he says he never missed a match, travelling as part of a group known as ‘Byrnes babes’. He recalls some of the days out, the pubs visited and the ‘craic’ had – he even appeared on ‘The Late Late Show’ and ‘Up for the Match’. Byrne also retained a deep attachment to the Castlebar Mitchels club and served in various administrative roles, including club chairman. He discusses the place of the GAA in the life of Castlebar, the fluctuating fortunes of the club team (they reached an All-Ireland club final in 1994), the support received from the townspeople etc.Repeatedly, Byrne stresses the fun and craic he has elicited from Gaelic games and the social life around them. Stories are told about numerous characters met along the way. Byrne is strong in his praise of what the GAA has achieved across the country and what it has given him personally; but he is not uncritical. He draws unfavourable comparison between the game past and present and voices concerns about modern pressures and the impact on the social aspects of GAA life. For all that, he remarks that he ‘never had a bad day in the GAA.’